Horticulture

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Course Conditions 3/9/13

The snow continues to melt across the golf course and grounds at Hyde Park unfortunately the soil conditions on all of the surfaces including the putting greens are saturated. Because the 90-year old soil greens are constructed of native soil and lack functioning drainage, the water takes a tremendous amount of time to move through the profile. The addition of frost in the ground, limits water movement even further.

Because the majority of the roots are located in the top 3 inches of the soil, golfer foot traffic will damage or even sever the roots off causing long-term damage into the season. Below, is a slide with a cross section of the profile of the greens showing the drainage rates as well as what is recommended. Also, please note that the darker areas in the slide is the native soil that limits infiltration significantly. There is good chance that other courses may be open in the area, but please remember that soil conditions and performance of the greens vary from course to course based on construction methods, age, grass type, drainage etc.

With the warmer temperatures and wind drying the surfaces out we will evaluate course conditions Sunday morning for a POSSIBLE opening time.

We appreciate your patience and we hope that the course will be playable very soon.